


Almost Goodbye

by ArsonEmbre



Category: Kingdom Hearts (Video Games)
Genre: Light Angst, M/M, Teen Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-21
Updated: 2020-06-21
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:33:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24832429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArsonEmbre/pseuds/ArsonEmbre
Summary: It’s supposed to be their last night together.
Relationships: Hayner/Seifer (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 11





	Almost Goodbye

**Author's Note:**

> More Seiner because I said so

He sneaks in through the window because getting through the front door at this hour is impossible. It isn’t the first time he’s done this, but it is the last time he ever will again. Already, he’s amused by the look of surprise on the shorter boy’s face when he pulls his eyes away from his laptop and sits up straight. If it wasn’t for that expression right there, he wouldn’t have had the heart to smile at him at all. He thinks that Hayner keeps bringing out the best of him.

Hayner lets out a low curse, very nearly throwing himself off of the bed and quietly darting across the room to lock his bedroom door. Once he’s sure that no one can get in or out, he turns to fix him with a nasty glare. “How many times do I have to tell you to text me before you just pop in like that?”

“Only a million,” he smirks, dragging himself across the room to sit on the edge of the bed. “But you can’t tell me you weren’t expecting me  _ tonight _ . Of all nights?”

Judging by the shift in his expression, though it’s still an angry one, he knows that what he’d said was hard to argue with. He needs to be here. Especially tonight. Hayner mutters something under his breath as he takes a seat on the bed, back leaning against the headboard. Seifer gently tugs off his beanie and throws it on the bedside table, then moves to join Hayner as he pulls his laptop into his lap. He notices the way Hayner leans into him as if it’s instinct. It leaves a bittersweet taste in his mouth. “What are we watching tonight?”

“Princess and the Frog.” And he says it so seriously that, for a second, Seifer doesn’t think he’s joking. A few beats of silence pass before he realizes that he  _ isn’t _ . Two frogs hop across a screen accompanied by a firefly, and the scene is vaguely familiar. He gives the other boy a curious look, to which Hayner shrugs. “What? I’ve never watched it before.”

Seifer slowly begins to relax as he draws his leg up and rests his arm across his knee. “I watched this way back when I was a kid. It’s good, if not a little silly.”

“I mean it is a cartoon.”

“ _ You’re  _ a cartoon.”

“Ooh, which one?” Hayner asks cheekily, looking up at him with the most adorable smile—even if it is fake—and a mischievous sparkle in his eye. Something pulls at Seifer’s heart. He’s going to miss all of these little things. He really will.

He gives a snort, leaning closer. “My favorite one.”

The smile drops as the color red bleeds into his cheeks. Seifer laughs as Hayner huffs and turns his attention back to the movie. “Shut the fuck up,” he mutters.

“No,” he almost sings,  _ almost _ forgetting why he’s there and why it’s so important. He rests his forehead against Hayner’s temple. “I came all this way just to see you. Pay attention to me.”

Hayner glances at him from the corner of his eye. “I am.” And he pushes the laptop so that it’s now propped up by each of their legs. “We’re watching a movie. You can make comments about it, but unless it’s not that, then shush.” There’s something in his expression that looks a little like fear. Not the look in his eye when he gets asked a question that he isn’t prepared for, and not the extra breath he takes in right before he kisses him. This is something different. For now, Seifer decides to let him have this moment of peace and wraps his arm around him. Hayner leans in, and relaxes over time.

Seifer makes sure to do all of the right things. He taps out the rhythm of each song onto Hayner’s thigh with the tips of his fingers, which makes him giggle because of how ticklish he is. He repeats a few of the movie’s jokes to get Hayner laughing until his sides hurt. He holds him close when Ray dies, making sure to give his head a dozen kisses when the tears begin to fall. He holds his hand so tightly during the last scene, and sings along to the song that plays during the end credits. When it’s over, Hayner closes the laptop and keeps his gaze forward. Neither of them move from their spot.

“We could watch another movie if you want,” Seifer asks. The silence around them is thick with a suffocating tension that, even still, he’s afraid to break, but it has to be done. Hayner shakes his head, though, and he feels awful about it. “Music?” Another head shake. He can’t take this. Seifer nudges his shoulder. “Talk to me. What’s going on?”

Hayner opens his mouth, but the words are delayed until after he shrugs. “What do you want me to say? Am I supposed to just act like you’re not gonna disappear tomorrow?”

“I’m not disappearing—”

Hayner gives him a hard stare. “You’re going somewhere I can’t reach you for who knows how long. I can’t come with you and you won’t let me contact you. That’s not disappearing? You expect me to just sit here and-and-and...what,  _ grieve? _ Wait for you? Move on?” Seifer wants to speak, but he can’t force any words past the guilt that’s stuck in his throat. “You haven’t told me anything about anything, but if I go quiet for five seconds, you want me to talk to you.”

That’s what gets him talking. “Don’t fucking do that. I want you to talk to me because I know you only get quiet when something is wrong. I do that because I care about you.”

The shorter boy turns to him, eyes darker than they were an hour ago. “And I keep asking questions because I care about  _ you _ . This would be a lot easier to deal with if you would just give me straight answers.”

Seifer frowned. He knew that keeping everything to himself was hurting him. He knew that he was curious and worried about him, and he couldn’t stand to see Hayner hurt for him. However, “All of the answers I could give you are nothing you want to hear.”

“Try me,” Hayner presses, tone angry and defiantly.

He’s the one to shrug this time. “Ask me a question.”

Hayner pauses, as if he needed to process the fact that Seifer actually agreed, or to figure out which question to ask first. He probably has a lot of them. If answering them will make him feel better, Seifer will answer every one. Hayner takes an audible breath as he meets his eye. “Where the hell are you going?”

“Several different places. I need to head to Radiant Garden to see someone first, then a place called Olympus, Agrabah, the Caribbean...and then back home.” Home was a place Seifer didn’t often speak of, and if he did, it was never fondly. He would always say that it was something better off left in the past, and Hayner swore he would never force him to talk about it.

“Why all those places?”

He was glad that Hayner kept his word. To that very second, he still didn’t want to speak of it. He was still dreading his visit, but it was something that needed to be done. “Because...I’m going on a warrior’s journey.” Hayner made a noise and raised his brow at him, but he held up his hand to keep him from speaking just yet. “Just listen. I love Twilight Town. Everyone knows that. But I’m starting to feel stuck here. When I moved here I had so many hopes and dreams about what I could become. Right now I feel like none of those things are possible. This place is so small, and I can’t become the person I was meant to be just messing around and beating kids up with a plastic bat every summer. So, I’m going to places where I know I can get proper training, places where I can actually fight and do something worthwhile. Then, I’ll come back and make something out of this town.” He reaches over to rest his hand atop Hayner’s. “I’ll come back to  _ you _ .”

His words seem to make Hayner feel a little better. The boy sighs. “When are you coming back?”

“I don’t know.”

“Will you be safe?”

“I don’t know.”

Hayner’s brow starts to pinch together in frustration. Seifer doesn’t blame him. “Why can’t I come with you?”

“Because I don’t  _ know _ what will happen. This journey could be smooth sailing and I’ll come back home after a training montage and some soul searching or whatever. Or it could be incredibly dangerous and I could die. There are too many unknowns and I’m not confident enough to get you involved in that. Plus, that’s not your dream. You never wanted to be any kind of warrior.”

At this point, Hayner almost looks offended. “And?”

“ _ And  _ I’m not going to let you walk with me into a situation where I can’t keep you safe. I’d feel much better about this knowing that you’re here with your friends doing the things that you love. Not unguarded and unprotected in an unfamiliar place doing something you’re not used to.”

A heavy silence follows those words. Hayner looks away. Seifer leans his head to the side to try to catch his eye again. When he can’t, he reaches over to gently grab him by the chin and nudge his head forward again. If it wasn’t for the glossiness in the other teen’s eye, he would assume Hayner was mad at him for not getting to tag alone. And although he realizes that it’s part of the reason he’s upset, he knows that it’s mostly worry for his well-being. They very clearly cared a lot about the other, yet if you would have told him two summers ago that he would be sitting in Hayner’s bed fighting back his own tears as he struggled to say goodbye, he wouldn’t have believed you. He hardly believed himself.

“I’ll  _ be  _ back,” he promises. It’s not one that he intends to break.

Hayner blinks rapidly as he tries to look anywhere else but at him. But it doesn’t work. In a matter of seconds, deep brown was met with blue-green once again. It was one of the best parts of  _ them. _ Seifer craved eye contact; Hayner never could look away for very long. “I have another question.”

Seifer drops his hand from his boyfriend’s chin. “What’s up?”

A moment of hesitation passes where the only thing Hayner does is part his lips. Then, he speaks. “If I asked you to stay...would you?”

Without missing a beat, Seifer answers, “I would.”

There’s a quick movement of a few muscles—almost like a twitch—around Hayner’s eyes. For the first time in a long time, Seifer can’t guess what he’s thinking. But his eyes are moving back and forth the way they do when he’s extremely nervous. Just when Seifer starts to think he won’t say anything else, he offers a weak smile and threads their fingers together.

“Then go,” he says softly. “I can’t wait to meet the person you’ve always wanted to be. He better be cool as hell or I swear to God I’ll—”

“You’ll what?” Seifer blurts on instinct. That’s their thing. Hayner makes empty threats and Seifer always pushes him until the threat becomes real. Except this time, he doesn’t wait for him to come up with something. He leans forward and presses their foreheads together. If he were to tilt his head down a little more, their noses would be touching. A little more and maybe their lips might. But it doesn’t feel right in this particular moment. “You’ll fight me?”

Hayner snorts, giving his hand a squeeze. “I might. Would you fight me back?”

“I might.”

They share a laugh, and it’s the only sound Seifer wants to hear. But he knows he won’t be able to rest until he says it properly. “I’ll miss you. It’s gonna be really hard to say goodbye in the morning.”

“You’re staying until the morning?” Hayner asks. This time, his voice is unsteady and barely above a whisper.

“If you want me to.” It wasn’t a part of the original plan. He had come to spend the night with him, say goodbye, and leave him to sleep. If Hayner asked him to say, he would. That is still true.

The shorter blond tilts his head and closes the distance between their lips, squeezing his hand so tight that Seifer actually starts to worry for him. He pulls away with a soft sniff, reconnecting their foreheads.

“I want you to stay...”

That’s enough for Seifer. “I will,” he tells him. He whispers to him until the tears stop, and wipes the remaining moisture away with his thumbs. He kisses his forehead and holds him until the threat of more tears has passed. He talks him into watching another movie, in which Hayner falls asleep at the hour and thirty minute mark.

And when Seifer lies down next to him, he pulls out his phone and turns off the alarm he’d set. He won’t be catching the train in the morning.


End file.
